1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to electrical outlets and, more specifically, to illuminated electrical outlets and switches. The outlets and switches are illuminated by electro-illuminescent strips deriving power from the input voltage. The outlets and switches contain a brightness sensor which senses the amount of light present in a room and, upon a determination that the light is below a reference level, the electro-illuminescent strips are caused to be illuminated. Also, the outlets may include at least two luminous strips each having a different color for indicating the status of that particular socket.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous other illuminating devices designed for electrical outlets and light switches are present in the prior art. Typical of these is U.S. Pat. No. 1,720,463 issued to Both on Jul. 9, 1929. A patent was issued to Tiffany on Oct. 1, 1935 as U.S. Pat. No. 2,015,698. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 3,265,888 was issued to Adolphson, Jr. on Aug. 9, 1966 and De Francisco was issued U.S. Pat. No. 3,307,030 on Feb. 28, 1967. Prior was issued U.S. Pat. No. 3,895,225 on Jul. 15, 1975 and on May 19, 1987 Osika was issued U.S. Pat. No. 4,667,073.
Rice was issued U.S. Pat. No. 4,774,641 on Sep. 27, 1988 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,683,166 was issued to Lutzker on Nov. 4, 1997. U.S. Pat. No. 5,811,730 was issued to Rintz on Sep. 22, 1998. U.S. Pat. No. 6,051,787 was issued to Rintz on Apr. 18, 2000. Yu et al. was issued U.S. Pat. No. 6,089,893. Salatrik was issued U.S. Pat. No. 6,109,760 on Aug. 29, 2000.
While these illuminated receptacles may be suitable for the purposes for which they were designed, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention, as hereinafter described.